The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1887-08-07
CHARCOA AZ.


engage In such work"
CHARCOAL
How II Used to be Made and How IL IL Msdo
| Nowndays-A strsko or Genius.
A two-story picnic barge was tied up be-
side North River pier near Harrison street.
The picnic business had not boon good for tts
| owner. and he had turned to another line OF
! business by transporting lightweight merchan-
disc in It from the upper waters Of the Hudson.
A gang OF men that formed Two long process
| sions, travelling In opposite directions. were
carrying rough bags full Of charcoal from the
| barge and loading them on trucks on the pier.
A bright young man, who could keep tally OF
| the bags. smoke o good Cigar. and talk at tho
same time. stood at the end OF the gang plank
| and made mark In book every time man
with bag passed him. To stranger who was
| curious to know something about the charcoal
business he said:
This boat load OF charcoal came from Al
bany. Tho coal was made up In the North
Woods somewhere. most likely out OF wood
stolen of OF the State lands. There has been
great change In the charcoal business recently.
Tho charcoal burners used to follow the busi-
ness for the sole purpose Of making charcoal.
and the place In which they made tho charcoal
was called the pit Now charcoal is ono OF the
Incidental products Of another business. and
the place In which 1t is made Is called an acid
| factory.
I'm tho old days the charcoal burner drove
stake In the centre Of piece Of cleared ground,
or cleared of piece Of ground around q email
and then sSs r sa pe %ss
about 40 feet in diameter and two lengths high.
Then he piled sods and earth Al over the PIT.
| leaving small hole here and there aroupd the
~ sH; 81
thu ds"e asn around the pie Fos two weeks
thereafter the charcoal burner. With another
man to keep watch H.. and md w Watch ID w tn
p pi% sa Now ana 1aS then n the the fe would
break through the covering and he would have
Ssv se TO make hole on SIDE who're the DIRE
was not disposed to 60 In few days G Haze
would I to- oose S@s TIE
During ali the time the bile was burning 9 pic
turesaue column OF smoke rose h out o., Of me me
esased 70 dow and the smoke to AZ the char
| coal burner knew that the pit was burned out,
~ Ss AND G
Are, and was then. ready to load the product Of
and with his mules to pull It, drive to town and
make himself hoarse shouting 'Cha-a.a-ss, .I
bushels OF coal out Of a, cord Of. wood and
| twenty-five cents out Of bushd q GOAL Con-
the value q s te t geSa aa she te
he was always a la6orer, dresssd In blue jeans 4:
Of his medftatlons grew the revolution in the
Valuable Valuable product OF the charcoal Dit was the
sH.oss Sat rose 81, up w hna
rs assd m II vas like 9Srowns
| into the river to let that smoke blow away.
Some bright genius discovered that Inc s inp1
| for mechanhal purposes was Just as good as
grain fruit alcohc Though not at ell good to
The problem Of getting the alcohol out Of
Wood IN pit The genius Borrowed capital and
built retorts just large enough to hold two
cords OF wood each. They were made In the
over brick furnaces as boilers are. The re-
torts were Allied with hard wood. soft being ofno
| The wood was baked, and the volatile elements
OF the wood were driven of through pipes that
wsre laid in big trough OF running UNI water 80
to be located on a stream Of water that had a
Condenser economically, although a steam en-
CINE would pump the water through,
simpi H9 e mdd smoke; It was conducted 60
o tank where it was mixed with lime; The
lime combined with certain acid constituents
cohol was drawn off and distilled once S, 0r twice
to refine IT.. just as it would be distilled IN
Alcohol ahd We're obtained from a cord Of wood.
Then the compound Of lime and Ia. acids ID IVA was
Sa Sss SD ihs s seo the
pounds Of the acetate were obtained ain DIR from ma
liable substances obtained from the smoke.
and although some additional labor and val
s p In ossp
with the value OF the new products.
ne Te Easn as hs hse
stead lott Of Bushels OF coal the cord
sixty bushels to the cordin his retort So the
charcoal burner hired men to DO the Yelling
on or who sfs had eaned him the capital threw away
HE jean trousers and bis pipe and, IN . more
s IT. ss is the neW
m w"s ts say S'hST the 81 Tie world
acid factory TOT yN Acid factory Is name adopted
By those who DO
alcohol the stuff is not the sort that inebriates
anybody. The charcoal pays all the expense
the products on the market. and leaves little
margin for interest on the INVESTMENT beside es
The ae9hqs a mot a there Is very good
Product PROF Of ashes. The Are in the furnaces
kept burning With S shs.s9s d se S Sed
on The market, and with the tar that oozes out
Of tho retorts. There are several bushels OF
ashes for each cord of wood and the ashes are
wnri6 from ten to fifteen cents Il bushel at the
factory, where they usually have ready sale to
the farmers for fertilizers. They are also
hleached and used In making potash. Think
ing OF such n business as this makes a fellow
wonder whether there dsn't lots OF stun now
going to waste as the smoke did, that might Do
,itilized and make us all rich"
A Pretty Bear.
From the Philadelphia Prest
The Traymore Hotel gosslps are suffering